The Irish standard., 1887-02-26
MEXICAN GIRLS.
How the Budding Senoritas of Our Siste
REPUBLIC are Educated.

How the Budding Ssnoritas of Our Sister
Republic Are Educated.
The scholastic course of Mexican
girl of aristocratic family is finished
before she is fifteen. at which age she
is considered "ma1riageable. The
wife of General Santa Anna was
welded to that willy ruler whom Amer
leans remember as "the Butcher of the
Alamo,' when onl Y tlsirteen-and nu-
merous brides in these later days are
scarcely older. 1t must be remembered,
however, that girls mature early in the
tropics-and in corresponding ratio
grow old much sooner than in the
colder North. Though Mexico abounds
in single women of mature age, one
never hears Of IAN old maid" for to
remain forever unmarried entails no
such stigma here as attaches to un-
mated women Of other lands. If her
lonely condition is alluded to by these
polite people, they speak of her with
some kindly phrase indicating that "!a
po6racito'' (the poor, dear thing) has
been ''hard to please
= The custom Of engaging accomplished
foreign governesses or native tutors to
instruct young girls at home is gaining
ground among wealthy families in
Mexico, because to send q budding
senorita, over ten years OF age, to a
day-school--even in the family car
riage, accompanied by a maid who
never loses sight of her till she is safely
returned to the parental c0su-is looked
upon as an alarming stretch of the pro-
prieties. In the days OF conventual
institutions, the daughters of well-to-do
parents were usually placed in charge
Of the gentle sisterhood, generally en-
tering the convent schools at an early
age and remaining until old enough to
marry. Since the banishment of nuns
and monks from Mexico, q great many
private schools and seninaries have
been established, wherein girls arc
duly finished ''--accorc}ing to Mexican
ideas. The acme Of their accomplish
ments is to become good linguists and
excellent musicians and to acquire q
smattering Of history and general liter
ature, placing them about OH a par
with the corresponding class in France
and Spain. But they are never cult
ured to the Bostonian point in the
classics OF occult sciences, their simple
requirements being such as shine to
best advantage in the home circles.
Mexican ladies Of high degree are
never educated with view to utilizing
their accomplishments for gaining a
livelihood in any possible reverse Of
fortune, for under no circumstances
are they expected to assist i'll their own
support. The old Spanish custom
which obliges gentlemen to provide for
all their destitute female relatives and
to shield them absolutely from contact
with the world, still prevails among the
upper classes, Notwithstanding the fact
that nearly q century of foreign wars
and internal revolutions have made it
u difficult task in many instances and
forever dcbarred from matrimony the
scions Of proud but impoverished
houses.
AS s. rule, 7ootcr fn1niSias does not en-
courage much reading of bool1s-ex
cept of a religious character-among
the women of his flock. and certainly
not the general run OF newspapers such
us are found in every Northern family.
Ie believes not only that ";s little
knowledge is a dangerous thing" and
might lead to that peroicious ''strong-
milldedlless' which he ilnaginea atfiicts
most ladies in the United States-but
that literally ignorance is Bliss i'll
their appointed sphere. If not mar
ried at once when escaped from school
restraints, sometimes the mother or
some elderly female relative un-
dert;,kes to instruct the daughter
in these domestic duties which n1atri-
mony entails, because-whether rich or
poor--on the day OF her marriage she
will 60 to home Of her own, which
the expectant bridegroom must previ-
ously prepare. To that end she is
taught to prepare delicacies for the
sick and refreshing medicinal drinks,
to make datlcaes. jellies and dainty des-
serts; and occasionally, by way of
practice, is given for a season the en-
tire management Of her fathers house
mold. I have heard Of cases where she
has even ordered all the provisions.
paid the servants, provided rations for
the carriage horses and looked over the
coachman's bills for shoeing, etc.-in
short, kepta thorough account of all
domestic expenditures, but these in
stances are extremely rare.
Domestic life among the upper class
es in Mexico is chalmingly simple, and
really worthy OF imitation as contrast
ed with the lives Of some of our $50
ciety ladies' with their summers at
watering places and winters in Europe,
their neglected homes and ceaseless
round Of expensive gayety. A "profes-
sional beauty would not be tolerated
here in good society, and married
belle would speedily find herself ostra-
cized as an improper character